Federal investigators will continue surveying plane wreckage Saturday in western Indian River County

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Federal investigators Saturday will spend their second day in a marsh area of western Indian River County as their survey the wreckage of a plane crash that took three lives Thursday.

The Cessna 310 private plane left Okeechobee Thursday afternoon en route to Bartow, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA lost contact with the aircraft when it was flying about 15 miles west of Fort Pierce at 4:35 p.m. Thursday. Aerial searches for the plane Thursday were not successful.

Friday morning, the crash site was discovered about 20 miles west of Vero Beach in the Fort Drum Conservation Area, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

Indian River County Fire Rescue officials said they were asked about 10:30 a.m. to assist law enforcement and the NTSB in creating a path to the crash site. Assistant Fire Chief Brian Burkeen said a review of the ground conditions led them to conclude it wouldn't be possible to drive to the wreckage.

Instead, paramedics boarded a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter and were lowered into the marsh to remove the crash victims Friday, Burkeen said.

NTSB investigators will return to the scene Saturday. There was no information about when the plane wreckage would be retrieved. NTSB officials said a preliminary cause for the crash would not be available until the end of the month.

The Indian River County Sheriff's Office said the identities of the travelers could be released Saturday.